Wednesday, November 21, 2007

So by last Thursday or Friday we had chosen the area we liked which was 5 miles from my mom-in-law and 5 miles from my dad's place and 5 miles from church and a few other convenient places we frequent.

By Saturday we had a short list of 5 or 6 properties and I emailed them to our Realtor.

By Sunday we had driven through the areas and really there were only 2 houses of actual mightbuyability. And one of those we toured ourselves because it was under construction and I found an unlocked door.

So Monday we visited the one that remained.

We told the Realtor to prepare an offer. We signed papers about an hour later. We went to dinner.

Strangely enough the excitement I felt changed to an unnerving calm. I was happy but numb. I felt the same way I did when dad died. Numbness kind of describes it but not really. Emotionless might be better. Emotionless isn't really emotionless though because emotionless makes others feel a profound sadness. And try as I might I could not make my emotionless state lift.

Tuesday we waited and waited and waited some more. Judy had a terrible day from other things. She wasn't sure she even wanted it any longer. I was still emotionless.

Finally at 5:30 PM the Realtor called.

The owners are in their late 80's and the man's son helps him. The son wanted to counter our offer but the owners wanted to accept. The owners finally won out and signed the contract just as we wrote it.

Now I feel guilty about that. The man is 86. I suspect they are moving to an assisted place. I could have been that son and my dad could have been that man. The son was right.

But I feel happy about getting the house and my emotionless state has lifted.

5 comments:

Congratulations on finding the right house! I think it's great you and Judy will have your own place.

I sure understand the emotionless feeling you describe. It's how I get when things get difficult - almost as if I remove myself from the situation. I end up feeling like an observer rather than a participant. My kids have asked me how I can be so strong during an emotional crisis; now I can explain.

Oh I'm so happy that you found a house. Now you will finally have a place that belongs to both of you.I thought of you today. 2 months and at least for me in some ways it feels like a lifetime ago that you, Nancy and I went through that horrible week.